A Different Light

Tell us more about what you do for work, and what you enjoy most about it.
I’m currently working as a flight attendant. Growing up, I wanted to do a lot of things, and being a flight attendant was just one of the things I that I’ve tried. I realised that working in an office and being chained to a desk 9-to-5 isn’t something that I can do.

I like to talk to people, so being a flight attendant was just a great way to do it. I get to expand my view of the world, see different cultures, learn different things about different people, and it actually makes me appreciate the things that I have in life, and in Singapore as well.

What’s something about being a flight attendant that not many people might know?
We can’t wear digital watches when flying; they have to be analog. It’s because the timing on digital watches are not synced, or can’t be synced as easily, and you’d find yourself having to adjust the timing every once in a while. But with analog watches you don’t really have to.

This is important when we’re doing emergency procedures like CPR and have to keep note of the time, like when we start chest compressions and how long we’ve been doing it. In an evacuation, we also have to sync up the time with each other, like, “Okay, my watch is now this, your watch is now that, and we have three minutes to brief the entire cabin on how to evacuate.”.

Outside of flying, how do you spend your free time?
I’ve been pole dancing since 2020. Back then, I wasn’t able to work as flights were grounded because of COVID, so I managed to find the time to attend a class. I just fell in love with it since then.

People think that it’s a very sexual thing because you’re doing it in very little clothes, but you’ll actually learn to get very comfortable with your body through it. You physically see yourself getting stronger through the tricks that you do in each class, and a lot of people I know learned to appreciate and love their bodies more after doing pole.

For me, I learnt that even though I don’t fit the stereotypical ideal of being very buff, I can appreciate my body for what it is, and know that I can achieve what I want when I set my mind to it.

I also learnt that I’m an impulse spender (laughs). Because sometimes when I’m out shopping, I’ll be like, “Oh, this will look very cute to wear when I’m pole dancing,” and then by the end of the month, I’m eating chicken rice for every meal (laughs).

What’s the most memorable trip or flight you’ve been on?
The most memorable trip would probably be during a layover to Paris, because I was expecting it to be dirty, filthy, and crime-infested. I was hyper vigilant the entire time, super afraid of getting pickpocketed or robbed, but because my bar was set so low for Paris, I was blown away by how pretty it actually was.

And the food is not all that bad either. That’s why I always tell everyone to set your expectations super low for holidays so you’ll be blown away by them.

My most memorable flight was when there was someone who boarded the plane on a bad booze and medication combination. She was high throughout the entire 13 hours of the flight, was arrested upon arrival, and deported a few days later because she stole something.

What are some misconceptions that you think people have about flight attendants, or the industry in general?
I guess one big misconception is that we’re all bimbos (laughs). Granted, maybe some of them are not the most academically gifted, and I know that in Singapore, that’s how you’re measured. But it takes a lot of social and leadership skills, as well as the ability to think on your feet and multitask to be a flight attendant, because you have to deal with a lot of very different types of people.

Your colleagues are the same every day in the office, but they’re different on every flight, along with the passengers. So you need to be very flexible and adapt your working style to different people. It really takes a lot of social skills and emotional intelligence to be a good flight attendant.